Cesar Peres Dulac Müller logo

CPDMA BLOG

Category:
Date: 19 de October de 2022
Posted by: CPDMA Team

STJ decides that the use of a competitor's trademark as a keyword in advertisements characterizes a crime of unfair competition

Imagem ilustrativa de um teclado de onde é projetada a marca de diversos itens.

Advertising through paid media is a primary source of customer prospecting in the digital market. It happens that some companies, when hiring advertising platforms, choose to use the brand of others as a keyword to better position their ad. The result of this is that the consumer, when searching for brand "A", already consolidated in a certain market niche, will have as the first result the ad made by brand "B", even before brand "A" itself.

As a result, in the recent judgment of Special Appeal 1.937.989/SP, the Superior Court of Justice unanimously decided that indexing a sponsored ad to a competitor's trademark characterizes, in and of itself, the crime of unfair competition provided for in clauses III and V of art. 195 of the Industrial Property Law. According to Justice Luis Felipe Salomão, unfair competition exists when the capture of clientele is done by trickery, such as the use of a third party's trademark as a keyword in sponsored links. This practice produces evident dilution of the trademark and, consequently, loss of prominence and damage to the company's advertising.

Notwithstanding the absence of express legal prohibition, the judgment of REsp 1.937.989/SP shows a tendency of the STJ in identifying the limitations of free enterprise within the digital world, repressing conducts that promote confusion or undue association to third parties' trademarks.

The trademark registration guarantees its holder the exclusive use throughout the national territory, being assured the right to care for its material integrity or reputation. Therefore, to prevent the trademark from being diluted in the economic market, it is important to check with search engines - especially Google - to see if undue indexing of your trademark by a competitor is occurring. If such an act is verified, it can be characterized as unfair competition, giving the owner of the injured trademark the possibility to act to stop the infringing conduct, as well as seek compensation for the resulting losses.

By Thana Roberta Camargo Mattiello

CPDMA Team

References:

Portal Jota

Portal Migalhas

Portal Conjur - 12/09/2022

Portal Conjur - 23/08/2022

Return

Recent posts

Abuso do poder de controle nas sociedades anônimas: limites e consequências

Nas sociedades anônimas, a figura do acionista controlador desempenha papel central na definição dos rumos estratégicos da companhia. Detentor do poder de eleger a maioria dos administradores e de influenciar as deliberações sociais, esse acionista possui uma posição de destaque que, embora legítima, deve ser exercida dentro dos limites legais e em consonância com os […]

Read more
STJ recognizes extrajudicial exclusion of partner based on private instrument, without registration with the Board of Trade

In a recent decision, the Third Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) upheld the extrajudicial exclusion of a partner based on a private instrument signed by all members of the company, even without registration with the Board of Trade.[1]

In the case under review, after the company's formation and registration, the partners signed a document called a "statute," [...]

Read more

STF suspends proceedings on the legality of service provision contracts across the country

The Supreme Federal Court (STF) has decided to suspend, nationwide, all legal proceedings that question the legality of service provision contracts, commonly known as “pejotização”. The decision, issued by Justice Gilmar Mendes, aims to standardize the interpretation on the matter and ensure legal certainty. The STF recognized the general repercussion of the issue when it […]

Read more

CPDMA's role was decisive in the Supreme Federal Court's ruling reaffirming the case law on the use of legal entities in labor relations.

Uma importante decisão proferida recentemente pelo Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), a partir de atuação da equipe trabalhista Cesar Peres Dulac Müller Advogados, trouxe novamente à tona a relevância da observância aos precedentes vinculantes da Corte em matéria trabalhista, especialmente quanto à licitude de formas alternativas de contratação, como a prestação de serviços por pessoa jurídica — prática […]

Read more

Annual meeting for accounts review

The annual holding of the Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) for the accountability of the administrators is a legal requirement provided for in Law No. 6,404/1976 (Brazilian Corporations Law), specifically in Articles 132 and following. This provision establishes that the OGM must take place within the first four (4) months following the end of the fiscal year, usually by […]

Read more

The Full Bench of the Superior Labor Court rules on new binding precedents

The Full Bench of the Superior Labor Court, in a session held this Monday (24), established legal theses on new topics, as part of a procedure to reaffirm its jurisprudence. These are matters that, as they are already settled, were submitted to the repetitive appeals procedure to define a binding legal thesis. The establishment of qualified precedents has a direct impact […]

Read more
crossmenuchevron-down
en_USEnglish
linkedin Facebook pinterest youtube lol twitter Instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter Instagram